


Hey Rose,

by nik_nimmi



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Call Me By Your Name References, Falling In Love, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun is Whipped, M/M, Small Towns, and jaehyun has fallen, dang thats a tag?, i just had to write this after hearing taeyong sing roses, me using jaehyun to wax poetic about taeyong, taeyong is the new neighbourr, whats new
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:48:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27806338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nik_nimmi/pseuds/nik_nimmi
Summary: “Taeyong”, he says, and Jaehyun thinks the roses fit much more in Taeyong’s arms, than in his garden back home.(Or; Taeyong is the new neighbour, and Jaehyun may or may not have fallen.)Inspired by Roses by Finn Askew
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 4
Kudos: 40





	Hey Rose,

**Author's Note:**

> Okay! So a few things first:  
> There's a bunch of time skips in this, a big break in paragraphs means i've skipped forward  
> Also, i was listening to roses, and for some reason it gave me slight call be your name vibes? Idk lol but certain scenes in the fic were very heavily influenced from there. you could think of this as cmbyn au-not-au if that makes sense.

_Hey rose,_

_I bought you five roses won’t you come to my show?_

He’s beautiful.

A mixture of handsome and pretty, toeing between the lines into something more. Jaehyun can only watch the stranger, as he takes a box after box out of the back of a truck, a blue sky painted behind him. He wondered if they would stay, for the house across them was no stranger to being used as a vacation home. Jaehyun wondered if he would care either way, for there is something fleetingly romantic about a summer getaway, yet just as enticing as a long-lasting stay; a home, if you may.

The stranger stopped for a moment, pausing in his movements, attention caught by something outside of Jaehyun’s field of vision from--his bedroom window. A beat, and he walks away, joy unfurling as he shouts something in the air. He come back, a minute later, ice cream in hand, the green of mint-choco clear despite the distance.

The sun smiles upon him, the clouds rush to give him a inch of shade. Jaehyun can only watch, as the stranger sits upon the green front yard, a soft breeze fluttering his top, teasing his shorts. Jaehyun watches; in awe, for the stranger looks more in place, than Jaehyun has felt his entire life.

The stranger leaves, when the sunlight begins to dip from mid-sky to somewhere lower, taking his heart along with him.

A knock, then another. He waits, and a beat later the door opens. She’s a kind woman, gushes over his tray of baked goods, eagerly asks questions about his family, gratitude in every which way she tries to usher him inside. Her husband is kind, even if he doesn’t offer much, a smile and a warm hand awaiting him as soon as he turns to greet him. They’re both welcoming, despite the obvious mess that comes with moving in surrounding every inch of the house.

The stranger is quiet, and Jaehyun only notices him when he gets pulled inside to wait for his tray, hands still clutching a bouquet his mom had arranged as the husband hurried through the boxes to find a vase. He’s unreal, as though a character in one of Jaehyun’s favourite ghiblii films, and his breath hitches when he walks closer.

His eyes follow the drip of water as it slips through the fabric of the wrap, and his fingers move forward until a petal rests between them. Jaehyun mumbles out something he can hardly remember, but he guesses it was something good, for it brings a smile to his face.

“Taeyong”, he says, and Jaehyun thinks the roses fit much more in Taeyong’s arms, than in his garden back home.

“We’ll make sure to be there,” he says, and Jaehyun thanks whoever gifted him his parents, and the parties they hosted for their community.

“We’ll try to bring something too, your mother sounds lovely,” Mrs. Lee says, an easy smile as he tells her about tonight, protests falling deaf on her ears as Jaehyun tells her they were taking care of everything.

The piano teases him, it’s reflection showcasing the anxiousness plain across his face. He ignores it, too used to its antics, and presses a finger against the keys. He’s alone, in the living room, as people talk and laugh and dance outside. His parents thrived in the intimacy that small get-togethers brought, the feeling of security in knowing there would always be someone around to help you out, for as long as you decided to stay in their little neighbourhood.

Jaehyun presses another key, this time the piano melding with him, as a note then another cascaded from the pages in front of him to the air around him. It’s soft, slow; a piece that has always managed to bring a feeling of serenity. The door opens, and he plays some more. Footsteps echo, and Jaehyun flips a page. Movements still, rustling of cushions settling into quiet, and Jaehyun twists the melody, blending into another.

Time slips and slips and slips, and it’s only after he glances back up again, does he see Taeyong across him, draped in shades of blue and white; a t-shirt and pair of shorts. Taeyong smiles, small, yet it is already miles more personal.

Jaehyun returns to what he knows best, and plays until Taeyong is nearer than before, plays until there is a glass of wine in both their hands, plays until the others file out and only a few remain—coming inside to enjoy the show.

The piano sings for all of them, but Jaehyun, Jaehyun only plays for one.

_Show you how to live life, yeah, you know you’re f*kn gold_

Days combine themselves into a chain of sunlight and its absence. Jaehyun no longer remembers what day it is, neither the date, as a month away from classes, and his ability to care for them has turned to nothing.

The Lees next door are a welcome addition, his mother and Mrs. Lee kicking it right off from the get-go. Jaehyun gets sent for help a lot; the furniture, the boxes, the way around town. The word stranger slips of his tongue completely, as Taeyong’s name starts becoming more familiar than his own.

Jaehyun cannot think of a word to describe him; one that encapsulates all of who he is. He is soft-spoken, but his volume reaches astronomical heights the moment they compete. He is kind, but his tongue quick to retort when he’s feeling more chipper than usual. Taeyong is many things, but it seems confident may not be one of them.

He is flawed, in that way, Jaehyun supposes. In the moments he loses his temper at simpler things—however rare they be—in the moments he refuses to go ahead with plans because he is too scared to try. In the moments that he may lash out at Jaehyun, during an argument, and immediately apologise, distancing himself until he could find the courage to look him in the eye again.

Jaehyun thinks about these things more often, thinks about his first impression and how shallow it had been. He thinks and thinks and thinks, and in the midst of all of it does not give up; nor does he back out.

He drags Taeyong along with him to long bike rides, ones that lead them to the edges of the town and land them underneath a sky full of stars. He carefully strings his words, delicate and fragile, akin to an offering made to a child. He cares in the ways he can, because Taeyong is too good to give up on so easily, too full of life to let him rot away in his own home.

Jaehyun sees many things in Taeyong. A child, a wise mind, a person who does not judge any of the stupid concerns and worries Jaehyun dumps upon him. Taeyong is so many things, that words fail him every time he thinks of telling him-of reassuring him. Jaehyun hopes that his actions are enough; for now. He wishes he was as articulate as the other, to masterfully condense such a vast existence into a single word.

“Like the sea, the one near grandma’s,” he overhears Taeyong saying. “And that’s a good thing?” he hears Mrs. Lee asks, hesitance and nonchalance both threaded in her tone. Jaehyun waits—despite knowing it was so utterly wrong of him to eavesdrop on a conversation, but how could he not, when he had heard his own name pulling him closer to the kitchen?—and holds his breath.

“You know I’ve always loved the sea, Ma.”

His chest constricts, for a moment. There is warmth there, and something more, something he cannot put his finger on. Mrs. Lee laughs, and he scrambles away from the wall, acting as though he were just coming in when she exits. There is a nervousness that thrums underneath his skin, his heartbeat suddenly picking-

-until she ruffles his hair, and pecks his head. She’s looking at him, and Jaehyun sees something in her eyes that he does not think he deserves to be on the receiving end of, before he is rushed away. Jaehyun comes back to his own home with a container of biscuits, and wetness on the edge of his eyes he did not know when had gathered.

_Give you all my time if you wanna take it slow_

Jaehyun takes Taeyong on their first date when he spots a duck shaped cloud in the sky.

It feels lucky, even if his mother tells him it looks more like a bear than anything. Taeyong gives him a grin, but he can still see the slight anxiety swimming in the other’s eyes. He wonders if his own eyes mirror the same.

They take their bikes out, and ride through the town square. It seemed the sky had decided to grant him a favor for all the years he’s played under its gaze, for a summer breeze cools them down, carding through their hairs, slipping under their clothes.

There is ice cream, there are books, and there is the sea. Jaehyun wishes he could paint, for pictures are not enough to capture the way Taeyong glows near the iridescent waters. Jaehyun wishes he could capture the expression of pure awe, and store it in a vial deep within his memory, one to only revisit when he could resist no more.

“Beautiful” he breathes out, toes slipping little by little. The waves rush forward in greeting, and they both tumble backwards—afraid of getting themselves soaked. The sand softens their landing, but also buries itself deep between the crevices of their toes and hands and body, the two of the laughing at how absurd they look.

His mother invites them over for dinner. It goes well, with their parents getting too drunk; on bottles of wine and memories of a time before them. The two of them slip outside, hands intertwined.

Silence falls over both of them like a blanket, safely bringing the two closer and closer as the distance between them and the house grows. Jaehyun occasionally points out a tidbit or two; about the town and whatever history it carried within it. Taeyong hums, eyes glazed over, body still unused to the biting cold the night brought. They talk about poems, as they pass by the bookstore, the old man tipping his head in greeting. It makes Taeyong giggle, and Jaehyun feels something bloom under his ribcage,

Taeyong writes lyrics, he composes songs, even sings a little. Jaehyun plays the piano, occasionally dances, and is pretty good at singing according to his family. They list out one thing after another, a memory from here, and another from there, until they round back home, the moon keeping them company.

Jaehyun takes them through the back, greeted in disgust or elation by his dear friend, he does not know. Taeyong runs a hand against the old thing, the piano still glistening after all these years. “Play for me,” he whispers against him.

And who is Jaehyun to deny?

_Your soul is lovely_

> _Isn’t the picture beautiful? It’s from the cliff near the beach, the entire city laid before me._
> 
> _At first glance, it’s so overwhelming; it’s beautiful---unbelievable, even. That’s what I thought of you too. But then ~~you see~~ you see all these little things, the more you look. You can see the town’s square, the lights they’re setting up for the festival. You can see the gardens, a mess of colours and greenery. You can see the hills, where we always bike by ~~. Its-~~ the more you look, the more you find. And it’s not perfect—the houses look too crammed over at the corner, the statue they gave up on still looks ugly, but yet, yet you can’t find it in yourself to look away, to be repulsed, ~~to be-~~ to be afraid._
> 
> _I don’t care what becomes of us, if we remain as lovers or friends, or part as strangers. I want you to know that you are so much more than what you think of yourself, so much better-and good. Believe in the goodness that you have, the one that everyone can see, because it shines so much brighter than the flaws you carry._
> 
> _Somebody once said I was like the sea, and I want to tell you: this picture is what I think of you._
> 
> _To my rose, may you have the happiest of birthdays._
> 
> _Love,_
> 
> _Jaehyun_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> I know the ending isnt that great cchslkdfhls but like im happy ive gotten done with this. They're still dating by the end of it, so jaehyun wrote a letter to him for his birthday (i cant handle sad endings)


End file.
